Jannik Sinner is through to the second week of Wimbledon after beating an ailing Pedro Martinez 6-1 6-3 6-1. The world No. 1 stormed into a 5-0 lead while the Spaniard struggled with a shoulder issue and looked to be on the verge of retirement.
But Martinez burst into life after receiving a medical time-out and was able to see out the match, though he still couldn’t touch the three-time Major winner.
Sinner and Martinez took to Centre Court under the roof as a star-studded Royal Box full of sporting heroes – including tennis stars Andy Roddick and Billie Jean King, plus Olympic icons Sir Jason and Dame Laura Kenny – watched on. But it quickly became clear that something was wrong with the world No. 52.
Martinez was hoping to reach the second week of a Major for the first time in his career. But he could barely serve and got broken twice, sending a weak 74mph first serve down the court.
Within 20 minutes, Sinner led 5-0, and the Spaniard called the physio to the court for a medical time out. When he took his shirt off, he already had visible strapping on his shoulder.
“It’s sort of sad because he’s a guy who probably will never be on Centre Court. Huge moment for him, defining moment in his career, get to third round of Wimbledon, play Jannik Sinner,” John McEnroe remarked, commentating on the match for the BBC.
The medical attention seemed to do the trick. Martinez finally got on the board in the next game, but his deficit in the first set was too big, and Sinner served it out for the loss of one game.
The world No. 52 was still barely reaching 100mph with his serves and got broken midway through the second set in a sloppy game full of errors. But he grew into the match and had multiple opportunities to break back while trailing 3-4.
Sinner shut the door and went on an incredible run, winning the next five games in a row to lead by two sets and a break. Martinez called the trainer for more treatment after dropping the second set, but it was of no use.
The top seed continued his demolition job and sent Martinez scampering around the court, forcing him to chase down a drop shot, then a lob, before hitting an overhead winner to seal a double break and move 4-0 up in the third set.
The fans and sporting heroes on Centre Court tried to rally behind the Spaniard as he served to stay in the match down 0-5. The volume was deafening under the roof, with cheers echoing around the stands.
But there was little the crowd or Martinez could do. The 28-year-old saved two match points on his serve but Sinner wasted no time in closing it out, hitting two aces to bring up three more match points and then taking it when Martinez sent a return long.
The Spanish star received a rousing reception as he left the court, with the fans clearly grateful that he didn’t throw in the towel 20 minutes in.
While plenty of top seeds have suffered early exits, and even Carlos Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic dropped sets to lower-ranked opponents, Sinner has been dialled in during week one.
The Italian has dropped just 17 games on his way to the fourth round and will now face either 19th seed Grigor Dimitrov or Austrian star Sebastian Ofner.
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